Air Products to supply three nitrogen generation plants to Dutch energy project

Air Products and N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie have announced the signing of an industrial gas equipment agreement aimed at helping to address a matter of national energy importance for The Netherlands.

Air Products will supply Gasunie three generation plants to produce the nitrogen needed to condition imported natural gas to the specification required in commercial and consumer applications throughout the country.

The equipment to be supplied by Air Products is part of a response to natural gas extraction issues The Netherlands is facing. The country has long sourced natural gas from its domestic Groningen Field. However, that extraction has resulted in seismic activity which now requires a switch to imported gas. Complicating the new supply issue is that the imported natural gas is incompatible with the applications currently served by the domestic Groningen source.

The plants will produce the nitrogen required to condition the imported natural gas to the correct specification, making it suitable for widespread use in the country. The three plants, to be located in Zuidbroek, near Groningen, will produce a combined 180 000 m3/hr of nitrogen when brought onstream in October 2021.